Five, four, three, two, one….
The room goes wild with excitement as the ball drops in Times Square this New Year’s Eve. Confetti flies, arms raise, and screams echo throughout the crowded room. Some celebrate the excitement of a blank slate, some lament the end of a chapter, while some go straight to sleep as midnight is way past bedtime.
Suddenly, it’s 2017 -- it’s finally time to substitute carrots for carbs and cardio for cake. Not to mention work on that to-do list that stretches longer than the California coast.
A New Year’s resolution is a promise that a person makes to themselves at the start of a New Year in order to enact changes they want or need to make in their lives. While many New Year’s resolutions are made under good intentions, by the middle of February, about 80 percent of the resolutions made have already failed. To be honest, I’ve given up on New Year’s resolutions all together. The resolutions serve as an added reminder of everything I want to do and be, but never will. So, my New Year's resolution is to make no New Year's resolution.
The phrase "new year, new me" is a something that many people say at the start of a year. This phrase, however, is not something that we should follow. This phrase is telling us that because it is a new year, we should change everything we don't like about ourselves. While I believe in setting goals and accomplishing them, we should be working on ourselves day by day and constantly setting new goals throughout the year, not just on the first of January. Just because it is a new year does not mean you have to change anything about yourself. In fact, it would be more beneficial to remain true to yourself and improve small parts each day, because every small change adds up.
This year, don't make a New Year's resolution that will most likely fail; instead, take every single day as a new start. Motivate yourself to set goals when the time is right. Don't try to change everything all at once, take your goals step by step. And finally, stay true to who you are. New Year's resolutions do not define you. Whether you accomplish them or not, you are good just as you are. Don't let the idea of changing for the better get in the way of seeing all the goodness that is already within you.
Obviously, everyone has something in their life they would like to improve; but it's important to acknowledge the fact that we all have some great things in our lives that we should strive to continue or have them remain in our lives. Just because the clock strikes midnight and we start writing 2017 on our papers instead, doesn't mean we have to turn ourselves into a different person than who we were at 11:59. If you're on a consistent gym schedule or in a relationship you love, vow to make the effort to keep it exactly how it is. For some reason, the pressure for change in the new year is inevitable, but it's also completely in our own hands. If you can truly say you're happy with yourself then so be it. Don't change. This is completely okay. Be proud of your accomplishments.
Each year of your life should be a progression; we learn different lessons as time passes us by and each year we make progress within ourself. However, at the same time, we keep a lot of ourselves the same. So, if you're happy with your life as is, don't let the pressure of the 'new year' convince you to change something. 2017 can still be your year, with great things coming your way, and with the same you.
